Letters to the Editor 12/27

December 27, 2000

Letters to the Editor 12/27

Help the pet rescue

To the editor:

Pet Smart Charities Inc., a Phoenix, Ariz. based non-profit organization, just awarded $4,400 to Second Chance Rescue toward its spay/neuter program. The grant will assist Second Chance Rescue by supporting a program that might otherwise not be funded.

Many animals will receive the second chance they deserve thanks to the efforts of Mara Spade who originally submitted the grant to Pet Smart Charities. Spade has been in the dog rescue business for the last six years.

Second Chance Rescue requested the funding knowing that if the grant were approved , it would further their life-saving efforts in the communities they serve. The organization is located in Inwood, W.Va., and assists animals in Morgan and Jefferson counties.

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If you would like to donate money, supplies, or volunteer time to the life-saving efforts of Second Chance Rescue, please contact Mara Spade at 304-229-7285 or Diane Harrelson at 304-229-2370.

Diane Harrelson

Second Chance Rescue

Inwood, W.Va.

Slow the races

To the editor:

I am writing in support and appreciation of the Jefferson County Planning Commission. The Commission has elected to conduct a public input process prior to making a decision regarding the request from the Summit Point Raceway to allow further expansion of those facilities.

The people who live within a few miles of the raceway have been faced with an ever-growing level of activity and noise emanating from the race track facility. Many of us have gathered together to address our concerns to the commission over the impact the racetrack has on our lives (hardly a moment of peace and quiet in what is otherwise a beautiful rural village) here in Summit Point.

The Planning Commission has designated Jan. 16 as the date for an opportunity for members of the public to propose changes to the zoning for the racetrack. One group has already proposed that the track's hours of operation and the level of permissible noise be restrained to reasonable levels.

I heartily encourage anyone who wishes to improve the quality of life in the Summit Point Raceway area to attend this meeting. (It will be located at the Planning Commission meeting room at 108 E Washington St. in Charles Town at 7:30 in the evening of the 16th).

Please join with us in arriving at an equitable resolution of these community concerns.

Anyone having further questions may call me at (304) 725-1295.

David Turley

Summit Point, W.Va.

Maryland makes it easier to quit

To the editor:

A Quit Smoking Support Group started in Feb. '99, 22 months ago, meeting at the Waynesboro Hospital once a month. There was good participation, and six to eight people would attend these meetings. Six people stopped smoking.

However, in recent months few people have attended, sometimes only one and sometimes none. Each month I called over 20 people, some of whom were still smoking and some who had quit. But interest faded. Something was wrong. Programs in Chambersburg met with little success and they did not continue. On the surface it seems smokers are tired of meetings.

There is hope not far away. In the state of Maryland there are funded programs that are very successful. In Hagerstown at the Washington County Health Department there are quit smoking classes starting every other month and a support group that continues monthly. Of 575 people who have gone through these programs, 248 have quit smoking. You may join them. Call Nell Stewart, Coordinator, 301-791-3034 or me at, 762-8445.

Why are they successful but in Pennsylvania we are not? The reason is that Maryland's Gov. Parris Glendening promotes the program and provides state funds. In Hagerstown there are two part-time employees and a volunteer conducting the program. There is money for publications, banners, and giveaways with the name, "Stop Smoking For Life, 301-791-3034." Pennsylvania has millions of dollars from the settlement of the class action suit against tobacco producers. Where is the money, governor?

Do we need to help people quit smoking? Yes! We can save lives and severe suffering plus millions of dollars of medical treatment.